


Sam and Patches

by probablynotaduck



Series: The Nest [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Hospitals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 03:12:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19164640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablynotaduck/pseuds/probablynotaduck
Summary: Sam is taken to recess but today something is different.





	Sam and Patches

**Author's Note:**

> This is a piece I wrote for school but I'm thinking about making it a series. I have lots of characters in this world and I might upload more of them.

Sam liked recess the best of all their activities. Doctor Worth said that recess was a time for Sam to let out all their energy and that it helped them remain fit. Sam just thought it was a time to play. There were four swings at recess, which Sam thought was rather silly. There were never any other children at recess, so why did they need more than one swing? Sam never spent too much time thinking about that though. There were more important things to do, like turning the climbing structure into a pirate ship and sliding down all the slides from biggest to smallest.  
Sometimes Sam wished for a pirate crew. They knew there were other children at The Nest, but they never came out to play with Sam. Sam thought maybe they had recess while Sam was inside. Maybe all the children had to take turns with recess. That would explain why recess only came once a week. Even though Sam sometimes wished for other children, they were still happy. They had Dr Worth, and Mrs. Noman, who sometimes took Sam’s blood for testing. So Sam wasn’t lonely. They had two friends, and that was enough.

Today Sam had recess and they could hardly wait. Dr. Worth had said that today was a “test of emotional interplay.” Whatever that was. Sam just wanted to play pirate. As soon as they entered the gymnasium Sam stopped, and then moved to hide behind Dr. Worth. There were two other people in the gymnasium. One of them was a doctor, she had on the same white coat as Dr. Worth, but the other was another child. Sam was thrilled, but also sort of terrified. They weren’t permitted to talk to the other children that they passed in the halls. Sam wasn’t even supposed to make eye contact with them. Why would there be another child at recess? Unless this was Dr. Worth’s test? Sam waited for instructions.

“455,” Dr. Worth began and Sam frowned. They didn’t like it when Dr. Worth used their number and not their name, but they understood. He couldn’t call Sam, Sam, in front of other people. “455, this 014. They will be joining you today for recess.” Sam cautiously peeked out from behind Dr. Worth. 014 was looking at Sam from next to the lady doctor. They didn’t seem quite as nervous as Sam. They also looked pretty friendly, so Sam cautiously approached them.  
014 looked strange. Sam had seen other strange children in the halls, children like the flower girl and the big kid with the monster coming out of her back. None of them had looked like 014 though. Some of 014 looked like Sam. The same pale color made paler by the rooms fluorescent lights. Other parts of 014 were different. They were darker than Sam. Some parts of 014 were different shades of brown, some parts were lighter, like Sam. 014 even had two different eyes! One was green but the other was a light shade of purple. Sam was fascinated. One part of 014’s face had freckles but the other parts didn’t. The things that struck Sam as the most odd were the lines of stitches running along the edges between 014’s different colors. It made them look like a patchwork blanket of skin. 

014 was staring at Sam the same way Sam was staring at them. Sam suddenly felt self conscious. They’d never been embarrassed of their burns before, but they’d never met anyone their age before either. Sam reached up and pressed a hand over their cheek with the biggest patch of scars. The doctors never got angry with Sam when Sam was burned, but they still seemed disappointed. Sam wondered if the doctors were ever disappointed with 014. 

Sam had been so lost in thought that they nearly jumped out of their skin when 014 spoke. “I like your hair.” 014 didn’t have any hair at all, Sam realized. The top of their head was smooth aside from the row of stitches down the middle. Sam’s head was very different. They had bright orange hair that stuck up in all directions. Sam smiled. 

“I like your eyes.” Sam had regular brown eyes, they weren’t anywhere near as fascinating as 014’s. “Do you want to play pirates with me?” Sam had always wanted a first mate. 

“How do you play?” 014 looked curious. Sam thought about how to explain pirates. They only knew about pirates because Dr. Worth had brought in a picture book about pirates one day to read to Sam. 

“Well, the jungle gym is the ship.” Sam pointed. “And we sail on the ship and rob other ships and search for buried treasure. And we have hook hands!” the hook hands were definitely the coolest part. “Oh and a pet monkey!” Never mind, the monkey was cooler.  
014 looked excited now. “I want to play!”

“Okay! I’m captain Sam and you can be first mate 14.” Sam ran to the jungle gym, confident their new first mate would follow. 014 did follow, but they looked curious again. 

“Why are you captain Sam? Why not captain 455?” 014 climbed up the jungle gym next to Sam and sat down. 

Sam debated for all of thirty seconds before deciding 014 was trustworthy. “Dr. Worth gave me a name. He calls me Sam, but it’s a secret.” 

014’s eyes went wide. “You have a name?” They kept their voice to a hushed whisper. Sam nodded, excited to have someone in on the secret. “I wish I had a name.” 

Sam thought for a moment. “I can give you a name.” Sam figured it couldn’t be too hard to come up with a name for 014. Sam knew all sorts of names. Names like Dr. Worth, and Mrs. Noman and Blackbeard the pirate and, and. And that was it, they realized. Besides Sam, Sam only knew three names. 

014 looked very excited though. “I’d love a name! Will you really give me one?” 

It was too late to back out now. Sam nodded and then scrunched up their face in thought. They thought, and they thought, and they finally had an idea. “Patches! Your name can be Patches.” 

014’s eyes got wide again and they broke into a grin. “I love it!” Patches looked absolutely thrilled. “I love it! I love it!” 

Sam and Patches smiled at each other for a moment with excitement in their eyes. There was nothing more thrilling than sharing a secret. Finally, Sam stood up. “First mate Patches, are you ready to sail the seas?!” 

Patches jumped up after Sam. “Absolutely captain Sam!” The rest of recess was spent plundering and looting and dancing and sailing. Sam couldn’t remember recess ever being this fun before. Patches was an excellent first mate and picked up on all the pirate terms very quickly. By the time Dr. Worth came to tell Sam it was time to go Patches was just as good a pirate as Sam. 

Saying goodbye was hard. Sam wished recess could last more than forty five minutes. Patches Doctor came to collect Patches along with Dr. Worth and it was over. Sam waved goodbye to Patches and Patches waved goodbye to Sam. When Patches had left the gymnasium Sam looked up at Dr. Worth.

“Will I see Patches again?” They really hoped the answer was yes. Sam was always told to stop acting like a baby when they cried but if they never got to see Patches again they probably wouldn’t be able to help it. 

Dr. Worth smiled down at Sam. “I believe you will. Maybe not tomorrow, but you will see them again.” Sam smiled. It felt good to have a friend. Maybe next week they could play pirates at recess again. Sam left the gymnasium with Dr. Worth, and together they headed off down the hall.


End file.
